Hand tacker



Sep 1927' H; A. BALLARD HAND TAG-KER Filed Aux, l923 Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT car es.

HARRIE A. BALLA'RD, or nos'ron, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED snon MACHINERY CORPORATION, or PArnRson, NEW mess A CORPORATZIION on NEW JERSEY.

'HAND TACKER.

Application filed August-9, 1923. Serial No. 656,470.

This invention relates to fastening inserting mec'l-ianisms and is disclosed herein as embodied in a hand tacker such as is commonly .used in connection with the lasting of boots and shoes in a :bed lasting machine.

After a shoe upper has been pulled and wiped into place in the bed lasting operation, it is usual to secure certain portions-of its margin to the insole by driving tacks through the upper and insole, clenching the tacks against a metal platecarr-ied by the last. 'lhese tacks are ordinarily driven by a hand :tacker having a raceway to which tacks are supplied by a tack loading mechanism carried by the bed ilaster. The tacker ordinarily used is providedwith a nozzle arranged to be brought .into engagement with the shoe upper, a throat block having a throat opening or driver passage arranged to receive tacks one at a time from the raceway, a separator to control the passage of tacks from 'the raceway to the throat opening, and a reciprocable {plunger carrying a driver to insert the tacks into the work and a cam member arranged to control itheaoperation of the separator. A hand tacker of .this type which has gone into extensive use is shown in United States Letters Patent No. 500,225, granted June 27, 1893, {on an application of J. A. Crisp and L. D. Junkins. Tacks oi difl'erent lengths are used .in this tacker according to the character 01 the work .to be done. Trouble sometimes occurs, particularly when using short tacks :in this tacker, by .the .point of a tack catching in the throat opening so that when the driver comes down, the tack is crippled and :the tacker jams. Gccasionally also the head of a tack catchesin the throat opening similarly jamming the tacker. When this happens, it is usually necessary to dismantle the tacker :in order to :remove the crippled tack.

The throat block of the tacker disclosed in said Patent No. 500,225 is formed'with a horizontal slot arranged to receive the supporting-arm ot' the separatontthis-Slot intersecting the throat opening somewhat below the point where the heads of the tacks are positioned as the tacks pass from the raceway into the throat opening. The points of the longer ltacks are located below this slot as the tacks pass from the :raceway to the throat opening, but with .the shorter tacks which are :largely used, the point ofa tack occasionally enters this s-lot so that the tack 1S prevented by it from passing properly down through the throat opening. Or occasionally the head of the tack may be thrust .other pontion of a tack catching in the throat opening, thereby increasing the cortarn-ty of -operation of the device. NVith this in view, in the illustrated tacker, the throat block and a separator carried thereby are so organized that the wall of the throat opening opposite the raceway, from the 'iposition occupied by the head of a tack as it is delivered from the raceway to the throat :openrng down to the outlet ozt the. throat opening .into the nozzle or the tacker, is formed free from irregularities on which .a tack anight catch. V

further feature of the invention comprises an arrangement whereby the lupper POIIIQH :of the delivery :end of the raceway overlies tack receiving surfaces formed upon the throatfblock, these surfaces of the throat block forming ineiiect a continuation of the raceway and guiding the \tacks to the throat opening so as to insure proper delivery of the tacks to the throat opening even though the raceway'is slightly out of .true.

With the above and'other features and :objects in view, the invention will now be .described in 5 connection with the accompanying drawings and pointed .out in the :claims.

In the drawings,

' Fig. 1 is .a side elevation of a hand tacker with a portion of the plunger and .the sleeve in which it reciprocates in section :more clearly to show .the construction thereof;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the throat block .and separator with :the latter in the position which it occupies while a tack is passing from. the raceway ,tothe throat opening-z; i

.Fig. 13 :is a perspective view of the lower end of the raceway andvits'cover with the latter :soniewhat removed from its normal position so as to show the formation of the lower end of the raceway;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the throat block and separator with the parts in the same relative position as in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the separator; and

Fig. 6 is a cross section of the throat block on the line 66 of Fig. 1, with the separator removed.

The hand tacker illustrated is provided with a sleeve 10 forming a housing for a spring-pressed plunger 12 carrying a driver 14 and a separator operating cam 16. These parts may be, and as illustrated are, constructed in accordance with the showing of said Letters Patent No. 500,225, to which reference may be had for a more detailed description thereof.

Carried by the lower end of sleeve 10 is a raceway 18 having at its upper end a hook 19 by which itmay be attached to a tack loading mechanism. Raceway 18 is formed of a pair of parallel plates 20 and 22, the upper surfaces of which support the heads of thetacks with their shanks between the plates. The raceway is conven1ently-provided with a cover 24 and with a spring pressed tack retaining member 26 to prevent the escape of tacks from the upper end of the raceway of the tacker when the latter is removed from the raceway of the loading mechanism. a

The lower end of sleeve 10 is shaped adjacent to the raceway to carry a throat-block 28 illustrated as made up of two plates 30 and 32 secured to sleeve 10 as by a pair of screws 34 and provided also with a pair of dowels 36 to position the two plates of the throat block relative to one another prior to their insertion in the tacker. Throat block 28 is provided with a throat opening or driver passage 37, about 180 of the circumference of which is formed in plate 30 and about 90 inplate 32, as well as arpassage 39 to receive cam 16. Plates 30 and 32 of throat block 28 are also provided with a. pair of co-operating grooves. forming a bearing for a pivot pin 38 on which is mounted the supporting arm 40 of a separator 42 the latter being provided with a tack engaging point or tack pick 44. It will be ob served that the slot 46 formed in the throat block for the reception of the supporting arm 40 of the separator is re duced in depth as shown at 48 (Fig. .6) as it approaches the throat opening, so that the wall of the throat opening is continuous vertically, that is to say from top to bottom, adjacent to the separator and opposite the end of the raceway so as to obviate the possibility of a tackcatching thereon. Arm 40 of the separator is notched as shown at 50 (Fig. 5)

of the tacks in the driver passage or throat opening 37, block 32 is extended to the right, as viewed in Fig. 6, so as to permit it to be formed with a surface 51 constituting the front portion of the wall of the throat openenables the throat opening to constitute a more complete and effective guide for the tacks than does the wall of the throat opening in the construction of said Letters Patent No. 500,225.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, the separator is provided with a cam surface 52 arranged to be engaged by the driver 14 so as to move the separator sufficiently to permit a tackto drop through the throat opening into the nozzle and with a surface 54 arranged to engage cam member 16 still further to swing the separator from the throat opening so that a tack in the raceway may move into engagement with the driver, which at this time occupies the throat opening. When the plunger is released after a tack hasbeen driven, the cam member 16 withdraws from the separator, and the latter swings towards engagement with the upwardly moving driver. As soon as the driver ha'smoved out of theway, the separator continues its initial movement, forcing the endmost tack into the throat opening, the lower portion of which, at this time, is obstructed by the separator so that the tack cannot drop through.

In order to promote accuracy of the construction of the. device and to prevent trouble on account of improper relative position of the raceway and the throat opening, plates 32 and 2300f the throat block are formed with horizontal surfaces 58 and 60 which serve as a continuation of the lower end of the raceway, the lower end of plate 20 of the raceway being slotted as indicated at 62 to receive thepo-rtion of the throat block upon which surface 58 is formed,and

plate 22 of the raceway being shortened to butt against the end portion 64 of the throat block. As shown in Fig. 2, a web 66 eX tends upwardly from surface 58 of the throat block to serve as a reinforcement and prevent breakage. With this construction it will be seen that even though the raceway and throat block should be a little bit out of true, still the surfaces of the throat block, constituting a continuation of the raceway, will necessarily be properly located with relill) spect to the throat opening, and will receive the tacks without difliculty from the overhanging ends of the raceway.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent. of the United States is: 1. A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver receiving throat opening therethrough, a raceway arranged to deliver tacks to said throat opening, and a separator pivoted to the throat block for rocking movement about an axis parallel to the throat opening and arranged to control the passage of tacks from the raceway to the throat opening, the tack receiving portion of the throat opening opposite the raceway being free from irregularities on which a tack might catch. I

2. A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver receiving throat opening, a driver arranged to reciprocate through the throat opening, a raceway to deliver tacks to said throat opening, a separator pivoted directly to the throat block, and means for rocking the separator arranged to cause the separator by its rocking to control the passage of tacks from said raceway to said throat opening, the wall of the throat opening opposite to the raceway being continuous vertically.

3; A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver receiving throat opening, a raceway, a separator having an arm pivoted to the throat block, and a tack pick on said separator arranged to control the passage of tacks from said raceway to said throat opening, the wall of the throat opening adjacent to the separator being continuous vertically and being straddled by a notch formed in the separator arm.

A. A hand tacker having a throat block made up of a pair of parallel plates with a throat opening constituted by co-operating surfaces formed on the two plates, a driver arranged to reciprocate through said throat opening. a raceway arranged to deliver tacks to said tor-oat opening, the surface of said throat opening being continuous from top to bottom through at least approximately that half of its circumference which 18 opposite the end of the raceway, and a separator carried by a pivot member secured in an opening constituted by co-operating grooves formed in the respective throat block plates.

5. A hand tacker having a throat block made up of a pair of parallel plates with a.

throat opening constituted by co-operating concave surfaces having about 180 of curvature on one of said plates and about 90 of curvature on the other of said plates, a

driver arranged to reciprocate through said throat opening, a raceway arranged to deliver tacks to said throat opening, the surface of said throat opening being continuous from top to bottom through at least approximately that half of its circumference which is opposite the end of the raceway, and a separator carried by a pivot member secured in an opening constituted by co-operating grooves formed in the respective throat block members.

6. A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver-receiving throat opening, a raceway communicating at one side with the throat opening, and a separator having a tack pick arranged to control the passage of tacks from said raceway to the throat opening, said separator being carried by an arm pivoted to the throat block and received in a slot formed therein, the portion of the slot adjacent to the throat opening being of a depth substantially less than the thickness of the block in frontof the throat opening thereby providing a front wall for the throat opening.

7. A hand tacker having a raceway, a throat block arranged to receive tacks from the raceway and provided with a throat opening having a front wall extending towards the raceway and continuous from top to bottom, a driver arranged to reciprocate through the throat opening, and a separator carried by a swinging arm pivoted to the throat block and arranged to control the passage of tacks from the raceway to the throat opening.

8. A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver receiving throat opening, a raceway arranged to deliver tacks to saidthroat opening, the throat block beingprovided with horizontal surfaces arranged to support the heads of tacks delivered by the raceway and forming in effect a continuation of the raceway to con duct the tacks to the throat opening, and a separator pivoted to, said throat block and arranged to transfer tacksfrom saidhorizontal surfaces to the throat opening.

9. A hand tacker having a throat block provided with a tack and driver receiving throat opening, and a raceway arranged to deliver tacks to said opening, the throat block being provided with a horizontal extension reinforced by an upstanding web and extending into a slot in the end of the raceway, said extension forming a continuation of the tack guiding surface of the raceway.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRIE A. BALLARD.

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